


010 "movie"

by wheel_pen



Series: Iron Man AU [10]
Category: Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fish out of Water, My Pepper is different, Pre-Iron Man, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-08
Updated: 2013-04-08
Packaged: 2017-12-07 20:25:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/752712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wheel_pen/pseuds/wheel_pen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony has a simple request: he wants Pepper to relax and watch a movie with him. Unfortunately her interpretation of "comfortable clothes" is a cocktail dress with four-inch heels—it seems she doesn't own anything more casual. Not even to sleep in. "I don't sleep in anything, sir."</p>
            </blockquote>





	010 "movie"

**Author's Note:**

> 1) My Pepper is very different from canon Pepper. Her personality/origin is very different; to separate her from canon Pepper I've given her a new last name and a different hair color.
> 
> 2) The bad words are censored. That's just how I do things.
> 
> 3) Stories are numbered in the order I wrote them, which isn't necessarily the order in which they occur. At some point I'll post a timeline.
> 
> I wrote this series after the first Iron Man movie came out. It's very AU but I hope you'll enjoy it anyway. I own nothing and appreciate the chance to play with these characters.

            "No, it'll be fun, come on," I told Pepper persuasively.

            She frowned, unconvinced. "If you wish me to accompany you, Mr. Stark, I will, of course," she assured me, "but I fail to see why I can't continue working at the same time."

            "Pepper, it's about the shared experience," I tried to explain. With Pepper I had to do that sometimes. "Two people, focused on the same event, sharing emotions, reactions. Bonding, if you will."

            "You don't feel that we already have a bond, sir?" she asked in confusion, and I sighed.

            "Yes, Pepper, we do have a bond," I agreed, as she looked a bit worried. "We work together, we live together, we spend practically twenty-four hours a day together. We're bonded, Pepper. We're bonded like with Crazy Glue!"

            "Emphasis on the crazy," she added.

            I put my hands on her shoulders to stress my point, and to prevent her from checking her phone for emails. "Pepper, you work very hard and you need to take a break sometimes," I told her. "Now would you please agree to put down the phone and watch a d—n movie with me?" Honestly, why did she have to make things so difficult?

            "Well, alright, sir, if that's what you want," she decided, in the tone of someone humoring a slightly insane person on the street.

            "That _is_ what I want, Pepper," I reiterated. "Now order us some pizzas—I want pepperoni—and change your clothes."

            There was that little frown again. "Change my clothes?"

            " _Yes_ , Pepper," I insisted. "Something comfortable. No suits!" She gave a small sigh that would have been a scream of frustration with someone else and headed off to do my bidding.

            Pepper was definitely all work and no play. I think I've mentioned how she didn't like sports or any of the other activities I tried—roller coasters, mini golf, video games, mechanical engineering, nothing. For some things I could force her to try it out, help me, or at least stand there looking mildly bored, but that wasn't really a _hobby_ , you know. I thought she was going to be a star at mini golf (after I showed her how to hold the club properly, several times—really, it was because she just didn't get it, not because I got to put my arms around her)—she kept sinking holes in one. But then I caught her idly twirling her club and making a hole in one while simultaneously making a business call to Japan, and I realized this just wasn't the right thing for her. The only non-work-related thing Pepper ever did, as far as I could tell, was read—which was okay if you liked that sort of thing I guess, but there were so many more ways to experience life. Like by watching movies. Which Pepper apparently had never done, to hear her talk. Maybe she was secretly raised Amish or Mennonite or something—she _was_ from Pennsylvania, after all.

            Our five pizzas—two pepperoni and three pineapple—arrived in record time, which was what happened when you ordered as often and tipped as well as I did. I planned to get three or four meals out of my two pizzas; but Pepper would probably polish off all three of hers before the end of the movie and scavenge in the kitchen for more food besides. Seriously, I had _never_ seen a person eat like that before, not even in college. At first I was worried she might have been bulimic so I had one of my secretaries following her to the bathroom all the time, but nope—she just packed it away, was all. 'High metabolic rate' or something, she said.

            I got everything all laid out on the coffee table for us—pizzas, soda, canister of sugar for Pepper to douse her pizza with (seriously, she was weird like that)—put in the DVD, and impatiently yelled for Pepper to hurry the h—l up.

            "I'm sorry, sir," I heard her say as I was tweaking the stereo system. "I didn't mean to impede your 'fun.'"

            "No impediment at all, Pep," I assured her, turning around. "In fact, I—" The words died on my lips as I looked at her.

            Now we'd established that Pepper was hot, and while her social skills weren't always the sharpest she was actually pretty good about choosing appropriate, attractive outfits, for both work proper and the work-related social events she accompanied me to. And I wasn't saying Pepper didn't look d—n fine in what she was wearing right now. It was just that a little black cocktail dress wasn't exactly what I'd had in mind. Just didn't coordinate with my faded t-shirt and holey jeans.

            "Pepper!" I chastised, figuring she had done it on purpose. She could be very passive-aggressive sometimes.

            She blinked at me, sensing my (rather obvious) displeasure. "You said not to wear a suit," she pointed out.

            "And to wear something _comfortable_ ," I repeated.

            "This is comfortable," she insisted. Did I mention the four-inch heels?

            "No, Pepper. _Comfortable_ is jeans and a t-shirt." I pointed at these articles of clothing, which happened to adorn me.

            "Oh." She looked somewhat put out. "I'm sorry, sir, but if you had informed me beforehand that a certain uniform was required, I would have—"

            I made a noise of aggravation. Maybe she really _didn't_ get it. Some days I thought Pepper just fell off the turnip truck. "Pepper. Go change into something! Something _casual_."

            "Oh." Again. "I don't think I _have_ anything casual, sir."

            Sometimes this woman was just unbelievable. "Jeans?"

            "No."

            "Sweatpants?"

            "No."

            "Yoga pants?"

            "No."

            "Come on, Pepper, work with me here," I pleaded. "How about what you sleep in?"

            She blinked at me. "I don't sleep in anything, sir."

            Oh. Well. And wasn't _that_ just the perfect imagery for me to have right now. "Uh-huh. Okay then." Forcing my mind away from the idea of Pepper not sleeping in anything, I briefly thought about loaning her a pair of sweatpants and a shirt of my own—it wasn't like she'd have to go out in them, and the idea of Pepper wearing my clothes was pretty sexy. But I looked at the frown on her face and realized she was probably going to be _difficult_ about whatever I suggested. And the pizza was getting cold.

            "Okay, fine, Pepper, you win," I conceded. "You just wear the cocktail dress if you want. Go change into a ball gown if you want. Get back here, that was sarcasm." Dutifully she returned to my side. "Is the phone off?" She showed it to me. "Now sit down, watch the movie, and have fun!"

            "Yes, sir."

* * *


End file.
